to prince frederick, .3 of an inch of rain which is not a lot. a lot of folks are about 40 at andrews from scott and in bowie also terry is 40-degrees this morning. as we look into frederick and hagerstown temperatures in the mid 30s. 20s in oakland and petersburg. if you think ski season is going to get to the early start, we're going to head to a warming trend. i think all of the snow we had is unfortunately going to be wastes in the areas -- wasted in the areas out west. a lot of folks won't. culpeper 45 light now. milder to the south and this afternoon as the sun returns a stiff northwest winds could gust 25, 30 miles an hour at times. we'll struggle to get to 50 in hagerstown but fredericksburg 55 and easton 50. the clouds are going to hang out longer and yoll get less sun. here in d.c. about # 4. i'll come back in and few minutes and talk about the weekend. here's monika samtani now at 5:00 a.m. with a look at timesaver

traffic. good morning, thank you so much. we have a lot to tell you about this morning in terms of accidents especially on our major thoroughfares for some reason that it's 5:00 in the morning. i'm going to start off first with the inbound side of i-66. you do have an accident right after route 28. it's along the right side of the roadway. be aware of that if you're coming out of centreville or out of manassas into centreville. once beyond that good to go to the beltway. a live look outside now and show you what it looks like first on the northbound side of 395. on the vdot camera in issues to report -- no issues to report at the 14th street bridge just before the point there was an accident reported northbound 395 at king street. i was on the phone with the police and it was quickly moved out of the roadway. i don't think there's anything left of that accident. northbound 395 leaving king street up to the 14th street bridge. so heading out the door, that's good too. let's go back to the maps this time all the way up north on 95 in maryland.

northbound after route 32, a box truck involved in an accident right side of the road is affected there as well. that's northbound 95 so if you're heading toward the columbia area, bw parkway, route 32 all look good. 29 looks good heading south to the beltway. in college park, no issues to report right now on the north side of town. beltway. we'll go to the chart camera for that and looking good out of college park, route 1 into silver spring and beyond toward bethesda. 270 no issues out of frederick down to the point where the lanes divide. i'll be back in my next report. back to you guys. >> you may be back sooner than that. >> don't you love technology? when it works it's good. when it doesn't, you've got us. >> that's right. over and over again. >> we love the weather. as mike said so much. we are doing it again. here's howard bernstein with more on the forecast. we're having technical glitches. >> but you were talking about it earlier. got lucky. it's early in the season this

nor'easter we've had snow early. the veterans' day snowstorm 20 years ago you remember. >> yes. someone ran into my car. yes. >> well, so. >> yeah. >> all right. >> okay. we've got video and as mike said earlier, thousands of flights were canceled in advance of the storm. kristin fisher is at national airport with more on what you can expect this morning. kristin, it's good to see and hear you. >> reporter: hello. good morning everyone. well, you know, the impacts from this nor'easter can really be felt here at reagan. simply when you look at the departures board and the sheer number of flights that have been canceled across the northeast. overnight almost every flight to and from new york and new jersey was canceled. about 1200 flights in total and i tell you what the travel wasn't any better by train. over -- social media, twitter especial little and whatnot yesterday people were posting pictures of just incredible lines in the terminals at penn station, penn station was

entirely shut down for about 30 minutes to 45 minutes due to overcrowding and that overcrowding came from the fact that the long island railroad was completely suspended for several hours due to all the snow that was covering these tracks. so essentially you had all of these people that had just taken that huge hit from hurricane sandy ten days ago, now, they're having issues just getting back to their homes. ten days later. now that they're feeling this impact from the nor'easter and i tell you what, there are listen to this -- 800,000 homes and businesses still without power after hurricane sandy. superstorm sandy excuse me. just yesterday a lot of those people got their power back on and then this nor'easter came and now they're back in the dark. and i mean can you imagine what these folks are feeling right now? the frustration that they must be going through. and how cold they must be. i mean it -- they're dealing with very chilly temperatures up there. just want to relay what one

long island resident said. i particularly love this. he said i feel like i am living in a sequel to a bad horror movie. and it's a sentiment shared by new jersey governor chris christie yesterday. he said he's waiting for the locusts and the pestilence next. more from him coming up in a half hour at 5:30. back to you. >> careful what you wish for. >> i know. at least they have a lot of equipment in place, it's been flowing there from all over the country and they have a lot of manpower on the ground. so they are more -- prepared now than they probably would have been long before that. all right, so maybe we have to deal. let's check it out. d.c. police are wrapping up their investigation of a body that was discovered at a scene of a car fire. firefighters arrived in the 1400 block of brentwood parkway around 9:00 last night. they found the car in flames and there was a dead body inside the vehicle. after police took a closer look it appears the person died as a result of the crash, and not as of foul play. crash investigators are now

determining exactly how this whole thing took place. we have new information on the man investigators called the east coast rapist. aaron thomas is accused of committing sexual assaults up and down the east coast. he reportedly will plead guilty later this month to attacks. the prince william case was a halloween attack on a couple of teenage trick-or-treaters. loudoun case dates back to 2001 when a woman who was raped in her apartment. now, a ninth woman has come forward saying she's the victim of a serial groper in northern virginia. there were two incidents within 30 minutes of each other a week ago today. this one, these two were at springfield. police believe these fondling assaults started back in september and they say the victims range between 15 and 42 years old. officers have since increased patrols in the neighborhood and investigators are also looking into similarities from a case last month in falls church where a woman was grabbed there as well. it is 5:06 and time for the

latest your money report of the morning. >> whoo. nosedive on the markets yesterday. jessica doyle is here with the details. >> not good, not good. in fact it was the worst showing for the dow since september. taking it to levels we haven't seen since then for the dow. stocks for businesses which are perceived to face more regulation or actually easier regulation under a romney administration took a hit. they are concerned they cannot reach a deal with the so-called fiscal cliff that everyone is talking about right now. checking the numbers -- apple is in its own bear market right now. the stock of world's most valuable company has now fallen more than 20% from the all time high that was $705 a share back in september. the day after the latest iphone went on sale. it was down 4% alone yesterday.

apple warned last month that the cost of making new garage ets like the ipad mini could cut into profits over the holidays. and it will 2012 election was the priciest ever on record as a result what do we get? more of the same balance of power, president obama stays in the white house, republicans in control of the house, democrats leading the senate. looking at the numbers -- the center for responsive politics says -- that is larger than the gross domestic product of 40 small countries including -- according to the international monetary fund a lot of people are taking a look at the numbers and figuring out what we could have bought in the united states for $6 billion. possibly a seawall. >> truthfully -- truthfully it's absurd. >> yeah. >> it really is. >> exactly. what do you have for us in the next half hour? we are monitoring the fiscal cliff and we're going to be watching it very clearly with january 2 -- closely

january 1st and this morning we're looking at what some lawmakers in the area are looking at doing. a key health official loses his job over the fungal meningitis outbreak caused by at the same timed steroids. that story is coming up -- tainted steroids. >> plus, he tried to go into hiding but now the man behind the controversial film about islam is headed to jail. >> ahead in sports the nor'easter takes a lit on some sports. -- hit on only sports. dc -- some sports. dc unite's playoffed run is a part of it. we'll be back. ever since he was a child friends and family have had to deal with what's wrong with him. and as much as ucp has done to help eric lead a more independent life, he'll always fall under the same label. [eric] "touchdown! 28 zip, baby!" [announcer] he's a cowboys fan. [man] "a little humility wouldn't hurt." [announcer] help change attitudes. help change lives.

welcome back, howard here with your weather first on this thursday morning. it's blustery outside. winds today gusting at times 25, maybe 30 miles an hour but the is your honor will return by -- sun will return by midday as the nor'easter pulls away. it is pounding new england with more snow this morning. we start with the clouds and temperatures are in the 30s and 40s now near 50 by noon. this afternoon 3:00 52 and look for a high around 54 and dress

with the windchills. monika? on the northbound side of i- 95 in maryland crews dealing with an overturned box truck after route 32 and closer to 175. watch out for it. i think they're just moving the camera around to see if they can find it. i'll keep you posted on that situation coming up in my next report. mike? here's what's making news now. guatemala's president declared three days of mourning following a huge earthquake that killed 50 people. 20 people are still missing, this was a 7.4 magnitude quake. it's the strongest tremor there since 1976 when an earthquake then killed more than 20,000 people. the director of the massachusetts pharmacy board has been fired over the deadly meningitis outbreak. the director failed to respond to complaints about the company where the tainted steroids' injections originated. that led to a third contaminated batch being shipped out. the outbreak claimed 31 lives and sickened hundreds. the california man behind

that everyone muslim film that came out recently is going to spend the next year in prison. a judge sentenced nakoula basseley nakoula for violating his probation. his film innocence of muslims depicts the prophet mohammed as a womanizer and pedophile. it's already time to make plans for january's inauguration. we'll have more on that at 5:40. >> in sports at 5:23 the nationals' general manager explains why he is willing to let go of one of the starting pitchers. >> next at 5:15 if we can just make it through today, things look a lot nicer and warmer in howard's seven day forecast.

5:16. good morning, so i was at the sam's club yesterday. and and this woman goes hey, i know you. and i was introduced to dina from rockville. good morning, absolute sweetheart. her husband gets up and she's retired. works for the government in richmond. came back here. got retired and got married. recently. and -- watches every morning and good morning to you. >> and hubby. >> and hubby that's right in rockville. >> it's going to be a better afternoon as far as the sky conditions are concerned. we're pretty much done with any precipitation, rain or wet snow, whatever you might have seen yesterday or nothing in that case. the sun will be back here in a

few hours. the bus stop forecast now on this thursday morning. and it's a little blustery. we've got some gusts over 20 right now in a few spots and i think the gusts could be 25, maybe 30 a little bit later thanks to the nor'easter still cranking off the new england coast. the isolated sprinkle east that's really on the eastern shore now. temps ranging from the mid 30s to the mid 40s but we'll become sunny to lunchtime i think even sunnier than this. 49. northwest wind at 16. but by 5:00, 50 after hitting a high of 54. we'll see the winds still up out of the northwest at 15 gusting still oh 20, 25 even at 5:00 p.m. the winds will get lighter tonight. had some light showers around yesterday evening. maybe a couple of wet flakes mixed in but most of the snow was to the east and new jersey and parts of new england and they really got hit hard up there. the radar view on the doppler and you can see look at this. there's a circulation center easily defined here and the parts of heavier snow continue

down into long island and in connecticut temperatures i was just looking at them. about 33, 34 this stuff is sticking to everything just blocking all the trees there with the white. southern maryland a couple of sprinkles earlier and right now those are gone and even out on the lower eastern shore that's all that's left. rockville is 39. it's 40 in crofton and upper marlboro 39. same story in reston and ashburn. haymarket this morning, little bill milder and still cold 42 degrees. that's outside on our michael & son weather camera, good visibility in spite of clouds but i don't have any precip and it's dry out there. and really dry. look at the humidity. 43%. dew points continue to drop. behind the nor'easter, the drier air is coming in on those northerly winds. boy that's just a very i want pressive looking -- impressive looking satellite and radar composite there with that thing just spinning spinning. bringing in the northerly, north northwesterly winds. that's going to keep us on the brisk side today. but as this storm pulls away, and it will over oh the next 12 to 24 hours, we'll see the sun return this afternoon. the winds will die down

tonight. and then starting tomorrow, the warming trend kicks in and this weekend looks fantastic. today, 54. going to be a little windy and winds could gust out of the northwest 25, maybe 30 miles an hour at times. low 30s north and west and 60 tomorrow afternoon. even better on saturday. 65 degrees. we're going to start saturday morning in the 40s and i mentioned that because alec baldwin and i will be -- anita brikman and i will be at the narcotics park and sunday skins are off and ravens are home. next chance of rain tuesday. monika, good morning to you here on this friday eve. good morning. it's been a little bit of a tough morning actually for some people. especially heading northbound on 95 trying to get up to baltimore northbound side after route 32, closer to 175 i would say. you see all this yellow forming. that's because of an overturned box truck and i see the southbound side is just taking a look at what's going on there. the southbound lanes are open. you are good to go if you're

leaving columbia down toward laurel and the beltway. so again the accident's northbound 95 north of route 32 an overturned box truck. the beltway in college park, in issues to report issue -- no issues to report here. the entire stretch on the eastern side of town of prince george's county. the outer loop close to new hampshire avenue which is normal. we'll go back to the maps this time to 95 in virginia. northbound side of course you've got the slow traffic coming up toward woodbridge. but you are still looking good and we'lltive a like look -- take a live look further north in springfield. also traffic is moving well. i'll be back with more in a few minutes. thanks monika. last week's game was moved because of hurricane sandy and now d.c. united has a game postponed because of snow. >> this one went to overtime with the celtics. highlights coming up in sports. >> question of the day time now, we want to hear what you think --

>> nick wrote on our wusa9 facebook fan page -- >> what do you think? put your answer on our facebook page and we'd love to hear your response. we'll have the answer in our 6:00 show.

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and a good thursday morning, howard bernstein with you. looking at clouds across most of the area.

mid 30s north and west to a few low 40s and just an isolated sprinkle pretty much on the eastern shore now. by 9:00, partly sunny. we'll become mostly sunny here especially west of town by lunchtime. this afternoon, we're going to be sunny and breezy today. some gusts could be 25 to 30. with highs in the 50 to 55 range. andrea and mike back to you. the nationals may let one of the starting pitchers escape to free agency. >> while the wizards try to take revenge against the celtics. kristen berset has highlights in the morning sports. >> good morning everybody. just four days ago the boston celtics spoiled the washington wizards' home opener but coach whitman was impressed with the heart that he saw on the court that night. well, last night the wiz going for revenge in beantown and once again you can say they played with some heart. the wizards put everything they had out on the floor. down 11 at one point in the fourth, here underneath. jams it home to tie things up at 80. now 30 seconds left, still tied

up. rajon rondo nailings the two pointer and gives the celtics the lead. but with time winding down, wiz down two. singleton and slams it home and we're headed to overtime. in ot though the celtics able to pull away. rondo finds bass down the court for the dagger. wizards gave a good effort but lose this one by six. and fall to 0-3 on the season. check out this scene. the second leg of d.c. united's playoff series against new york was postponed from last night to tonight because of heavy snowfall from the nor'easter. if you recall, their first leg was already moved from new york -- new jersey to d.c. because of superstorm sandy. look at that snow. last week the nationals decided not to offer pitcher edwin jackson a $13.3 million qualifying offer. that means they get nothing if he's to go elsewhere. well, yesterday general manager mike rizzo explained why. saying he liked the free agents

currently on the market better than jackson and didn't want to get locked in. talk about honesty. as a quick look at sports this morning. i'm kristen berset. have a great thursday. that nor'easter is causing travel problems across the country. the story is coming up. >> uh-huh. if you're headed to the northeast especially. plus elections, they're behind us now. jessica doyle has spoken on area politicians who are now turning their attention to avoiding the fiscal cliff and what it could do negatively to our economy. monika? >> southbound 270 the lanes are open, no issues to report. 109 to 121, and down to the split. more news, weather and traffic coming up at 5:30. you're watching 9news now.

good morning, happy thursday. welcome back to 9news now. i'm andrea roane. >> and i'm mike hydeck, do you feel lucky because you should. especially if you look at the

video from up north. thank you for joining us. good to see you. mr. bernstein? >> you know there are people who like snow and don't feel lucky because they didn't get it. >> well i mean as far as travel is concerned. let's keep et in the mountains so we can just ski. >> as far as what was happening before the snow fell. >> it's adding insult and misery to an already ravaged area across areas of new jersey, long island and up into new england right now where the snow's really been coming down heavily since yesterday afternoon. around here we had a couple of flakes a little sleet. a couple of sprinkles. st that it for the nor ester. it miss -- nor'easter. it missed us north and east. this happens a lot of times in the d.c. area. 43 by 9:00. by noon depends on where you are. by this afternoon sunny and winds are going to gust 25, maybe 30 at times and high of 54. 5:00 p.m. temperature of 50 degrees. there's the nor'easter still spinning up across areas off the new england coast with still snowing long island. connecticut up to new hampshire. for us. isolated sprinkle to the east

but really stuck in the clouds right now and have to show you the radar before we go. we start in the 30s and 40s. monika? a couple of early morning issues on our interstates on 95 in maryland. north of route 32 you want to watch out for an overturned box truck and also on the inbound side of i-66, where there was an early morning accident near route 28 and that's why you've got that yellow here which just means it's slower than normal heading to center vim out of manassas but i believe everything on the shoulder. you're good to go in terms of the lanes and everything has been reopened. let's take a live look on the northbound side of i-95. that's been incident-free traveling into springfield northbound 95 looking good. this is normal for 5:31 in the morning. leaving 644 to the beltway and on to 395 where another accident near king street was also moved quickly out of the road. back over to the maps this time we'll head to southern maryland. route 4, route 5, route 301 everything's fine up to andrews air force base and then heading south on the beltway to oxon

hill lanes are open. one more live look outside, this time at the american legion bridge. i'll be back with more traffic coming up sportily. back to you guys. thank you monika. after a few hours of celebrating, president obama is back at work. >> he is indeed. the first family returned to the white house last night after watching the election returns in chicago at a big party. before they left the windy city the president decided you know what? it's time to give the staffers a hug at the campaign headquarters. he did that to say thank you. there you see it. he acknowledged the need for unity as well after the bruising and divisive campaign. >> whether i earned your vote or not, i have listened to you. >> the president phoned republican leaders wednesday, we're going to have more on their plans to work on avoiding the fiscal cliff. that's coming up in the next your money segment in a few minutes. as far as foreign policy is concerned this morning an official in myanmar says the president is going to visit there later this month. which would make him the first u.s. president to visit the country which was formally known as -- formerly known as

burma. a virginia business owner is taking extreme measures following tuesday's elections. a jewelry store in bedford posted the sign that reads closed to mourn the loss of the america that our forefathers endowed to us. while some agreed the store owner has a right to express his opinions others say the move upsets them and they'll no longer do business there. in other news prince george's county police are now looking for a murder suspect this morning. last night officers found a man a gunshot wound in hillcrest heights. he was outside the apartment building and died at the hospital later. at this point no details on a possible suspect or a motive. much of the debris from superstorm sandy has a big coating of snow on it this morning. and that's all thanks to the nor'easter that's battering areas to our north. 9news now reporter kristin fisher has more on the storm and its effects on travel. she's live at national airport. good morning kristin. >> reporter: good morning. well, more than 1200 flights across the northeast have already been canceled and those

cancellations are continuing into the morning: so business travelers, this impacts you. listen up. this is the departure board at reagan national and look you can see we still have one, two, three, four cancellations on the board this morning. these were all delta or -- are they all delta? some delta and some u.s. airways flights and all heading into either new york, laguardia, or newark airport. we're still seeing these cancellations not nearly as many as there were this time yesterday. and into the overnight. but they are still there. so certainly check for that if you're planning on heading out to reagan or any of the washington area airports. now, of course i know lots of business travelers folks trying to get to the northeast very frustrated. but i tell you what, that's nothing compared to the frustration that is still being felt by the 800,000 people in new york and new jersey that are still without power ten days after superstorm sandy. i mean first they get hit with this once in a century hurricane and then ten days

later a nor'easter come on it's just not fair. many people had just gotten the power back when they lost electricity again due to the snow yesterday before this second storm hit. new jersey governor chris christie said he doesn't like setbacks but in this case, there's just not much he can do. >> when i finally got that final kind of forecast that i got last night, i said i'm waiting for the locusts and pestilence next. you know -- so we're getting ready. for another storm. >> reporter: across the northeast towns are scrambling to redirect resources from cleaning up to shoring up for up to a foot of snow. last night cars were stranded on highways and train tracks covered in snow. penn station was shut down for a while last night due to overcrowding and in laguardia the exact opposite. almost entirely empty. many more flights are getting in this morning but as i said

there are still lots of cancellations and anyone planning on traveling today into the northeast, certainly check your flight statuses because as we're seeing we've still got lots of cancellations on the departure board. back to you. >> all right. good advice, kristin fisher live at national airport. local students and their parents are coming to the rescue of hurricane sandy victims in new york. with a litten help from some truckers. the students are from chester brook elementary in mclane and teaming up with the american trucking association to deliver relief items to people in staten island. students loaded them into a tractor-trailer yesterday and today that truck will head to a new york container terminal. 5:36. time for another your money report this morning. >> and jessica doyle is back and watching the fiscal cliff which should hit your wallet and remind you of the new james bond film. >> you know as we march closer to jan 1 when this is supposed to kick in we are going to be watching the fiscal cliff very

closeically and monitoring just what our local lawmakers are saying about it. today, comments from senator elect democrat tim kaine from virginia and congressman elect democrat john delaney from maryland. big picture time. the fiscal cliff of course is a package of across the board tax increases and spending cuts scheduled to kick in at the beginning of the new year. economists say the impact could push the nation into another recession and of course the washington region would be ground zero. now that the election is over, both sides say they are willing to compromise on a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff. president obama called leaders of both parties to start negotiations yesterday. house speaker republican john boehner says he's willing to compromise on raising some taxes to reduce the deficit. but only in conjunction with entitlement reform. vice president biden says the white house is willing to compromise as well. and local leaders are starting to weigh in. >> i think there is a huge opportunity that has to be seized in congress between now and the end of the year to find

a path forward so that we can avoid some of the catastrophic consequences of either deep sequestration cuts or willynilly expiring of the bush tax cuts. >> that was tim kaine clearly signals he thinks a deal can be done by the end of december. in the meantime john delaney joined 9news now last night. he thinks it's the job of the new incoming congress to solve the debt problems, and he's hoping lawmakers on capitol hill will avoid the big decisions now and defer until new lawmakers can be sworn in. that's going to be a huge debate we're going to see over the next couple of weeks. do they do a deal now or kick the can down the road to allow the next congress possibly as much as a year or longer to solve this problem? >> wow. >> yeah. wow. >> boy that sentence. all right jess thank you. metro takes a step. details coming up. >> plus, now that you've exhaled after the election, one

of the prime viewing spots for the inaugural parade is up for grabs. we'll explain.

5:40. 42 degrees but it's feeling colder than that. we've got breezy conditions this morning and that flag is standing tall in the breeze. and we'll have cloudy skies. now there could be a stray sprinkle east but for the most part we'll turn sunny by the afternoon. temperatures will get the about 54 but dress like the 40s because the winds today will gust 25, maybe 30 miles an hour at times. i'll be back in a few minutes and i've got a warmer seven day forecast. right now here's monika with timesaver traffic. the effects of the accident traveling northbound 95 here at route 32. just north of this point and an overturned box truck has been blocking the two left lanes for about 45 minutes to an hour. and that's why you see the heavy traffic here on the northbound side of i-95. well, at least i have some good news for metro riders, they can

now find at least one smart trip card vending machine at every rail station. installation was put on hold earlier this year until braille and audio features could be added in order to comply with the americans with disabilities about. they are more in demand since metro now applies a $1 surcharge on trips paid for with paper fare cards. thank you monika. we've been combing through the day's daily deals emails and retailer websites to find you some deep discounts. the favorites today? chills in the air and we're already thinking turkey and thanksgiving. and so is gild city. save a deal with robinson's prime reserve, $99 is going to get you a 13 to 15-pound amish turkey. normal price here is $121. pretty good savings. check out the bathroom with some new furniture from target.com. the white wood lynnwood bath collection is on sale today. now prices range from -- for each piece. that's down almost $30 and plus getting free shipping. and get some quality sound

in your ride. best buy has this daily deal. $99 for a pioneer ipod ready indash cd deck and speakers. this is a complete car audio package and it saves you $100 and plus you have free shipping. if you have an offer you've seen or if you're a local merchant with a deal for our viewers, i would love to hear from you on facebook. over to you. all right, thanks jess. now that the elections is over are you ready for the inauguration? >> the newseum lined yesterday and since the parade pasts right by the building on pennsylvania avenue, the newseum is offering up a special inauguration day viewing package -- but they'll have a warm spot to watch the parade. tickets go on sale today to newseum members and next thursday to the general public. well, we called sandy a superstorm after it lost its

hurricane characteristics but should we start naming every storm? >> plus heading to baltimore this morning a big water main break there is causing traffic problems and more. >> birthday time before we go to break -- >> and happy birthday if this is your day too. we'll be back. would you notice if you...

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snowmageddon. carmageddon. >> but however if you've checked out the weather channel in the last 24 hours, you probably know that they named this nor'easter that came up the east coast, they called it athena. why are they doing that? erica grow has more on the decision and the reaction to why they're doing it. >> reporter: earlier this year, at the weather channel announced that it will give names to winter storms that in their words -- will produce significant effects on a populated area. their theory is that if a storm has a name it will be taken more seriously by the public. the network is not setting any specific guidelines such as snow amounts for the storms but they will get names like brutus, magnus and plato. this is the first time a national company has attempted to name storms. but local tv station wfsb in hartford, connecticut has been naming winter storms for more than 40 years. >> for quite some time. >> reporter: the meteorologist mark dixon says the station

will only name a storm if it's expected to bring 6-inches of snow or at least a half inch of ice to the viewers. dixon said the station won't be calling it athena either. my guess is we'll find out sooner or later if it's an epic dud. erica grow, 9news now. >> the general feeling outside the weather channel has been to ignore named storms altogether. it's going to be interesting to see and we wanted to bring howard in on this. >> i don't think it's necessarily a bad idea. my concern is that you have a private company taking the lead. if we're going to be in the meteorological community warning people getting out the message, we have to be consistent and i think that has to have the national weather at the head of the decision making processes. those are the guys who issue the watches and warnings that we bring to you in math and we do that and the other stations do that. we all give you the same watches and warnings. those are the official word.

now we have an unofficial word coming? i think that's going to breed confusion especially with the weather channel versus everybody else. >> do you believe really that i'm going to take this storm more seriously because it has a name? >> no i i you this to take the -- think you have to take the storm more seriously because of with we tell you. when we have the urgency in us, that's how it's going to be portrayed. >> i agree. >> sounds like a marketing tool or something. buy a tool or something. yeah. weather-wise -- let's get you going here with the bus stop forecast on this thursday morning. it is brisk outside. you guys should be happy you weren't on the weather terrace with me. >> the wind called maria here? >> mary. >> not a happy lady morning, temperatures in the 30s and 40s we've got windchills even colder than that. sunrise coming up at 6:43 this morning. with just a stray shower on eastern shore so we'll be watching that. but while we're starting with the clouds by the afternoon, and we'll get the rain -- by the afternoon in the low 50s at 3:00.

clearing skies so 49 at 6:00 with a high today about 54. but the winds could gust 25 maybe 30 miles an hour. 12 hours ago we had some areas of light rain and showers across region. snow was generally confined to north of delaware. jersey hit pretty hard and parts of connecticut actually received i think it was north haven in new haven county 12 inches. there were 8 inches across parts of hartford county and still cranking. that's nantucket and martha's vineyard right? still cranking out there with bands of rain. western connecticut up into maine and new hampshire even back into long island. they had record snows. in fact any snow on this date was a record in many of the areas, never had snow recorded in places like jfk or islip on november 7th. all the homes remember the ones where the big fire was 110 homes? just around corner basically 4- inches of snow on top of that. this stuff is just sticking to everything. the heavy wet snow. had some showers earlier on the

eastern too in southern maryland excuse me, but the eastern shore seeing some and a couple of sprinkles in the upper parts of the chesapeake right now. mid 30s hagerstown down to winchester and fredericksburg is 44. 39 over toward dover delaware and in washington this morning. it is a blustery morning. i don't know how well you can see the flag standing tall outside the u.s. capitol on our michael & son weather camera. but we've got winds northwest at 9 but we've seen gusts in places like quantico, dulles over the 20-mile an hour range. and they could gust 25, maybe 30 later on. that 42 feels like 37 at national but with some of the areas in the 30s, those windchills are down closer to 30 and look at the humidity. only 43%. the air has really dried out. so once we get rid of the nor'easter it takes the clouds with it. we'll be sunny and we'll start a warming trend. nothing to the west and that's going to be the case. i don't think we'll see any more chances for rain until maybe next tuesday. but this is still a very impressive storm. meteorologically and unfortunately it hit a lot of

areas that are still trying to recover from sandy. and an additional 100, 200,000 power outages from the heavy wet snow and the winds which? some spots gusted again over 50 miles an hour. that's the difference with the high can the low pressure that drives the wind and a pretty strong pressure gradient now. that will relax tonight as the storm pulls away. in fact by the afternoon, we'll see sun moving in from west to east. we finish the day clear. and breezy. 54. tonight clear and chilly. we'll dip back in the 30s. there goes the storm. pulling away from us. as we head into tomorrow, a nice sunny day. and looks like the next couple of weather systems will pass us to the north allowing warm air to move in. and saturday morning, maybe some passing clouds but we're going to be in pretty good shape on saturday. which is great news. the heart walk, anita brikman and i are coemceing that down at nats park. join us down there. 52 this afternoon in martinsburg and 55 fredericksburg and 53 in annapolis. breaking down the forecast for

the next three days we start in the 350s low to mid-50s today. windy. sun this afternoon. 30s tonight with lighter winds. still a little bit of a breeze but not bad. tomorrow, a much nicer waterway to finish -- way to finish the week getting to 60. saturday is really, really fine at 65. and sunday, the best day on the map right now. we've got skins off and ravens home. 72 and still nice on monday if you can make it a long weekend and there's the shower threat on tuesday. could even see a thunderstorm with that next front. it's 5:53. here's monika with timesaver traffic. you know i've been telling you about this accident on the northbound side of i-95. heading toward baltimore after route 32 for a while now. but you know, it's not until you see what happens against the rush hour flow that you realize how bad traffic can be in washington and i'm referring to the fact that the accident is northbound 95 heading toward baltimore and 17 miles an hour that entire stretch. let's take a look from our mdot cameras and you can see that

traffic is pairly moving once you're closer to the accident although you are getting through the accident on the two left bans but it's been -- lanes but it's been there long enough to cause the delays. definitely not used to it going northbound on 95 early in the morning. let's go back to the maps this time inside the beltway on 66. 395, 295 all running well. a live picture right here at 14th street bridge. all of the crossing are fine, there is no delays. back with more traffic at 6:00. back to you. making news now at 5:55, today the man who wounded congresswoman gabrielle giffords and killed six others will be sentenced. jared loughner is expected to get life in prison with no chance of parole for the january 2011 rampage. giffords and her husband are expected to attends the sentencing along with others. also later today a federal judge opens a hearing into the fairness of bp's settlement with thousands of claimists from the oil spill.

some of the plaintiffs are upset over the nearly $8 billion in claims is going to be split up. if the court rules some of the claimists are being treated unfairly the entire settlement could be in jeopardy. problems caused by a massive water main break in baltimore will affect the morning's commute in charm city. sending water rushing down charles street. that's caused the pavement to buckle and force some nearby residents from their homes. okay, before we head to break another look at the question of the day -- >> those three not good enough for keisha williams, she wrote on our facebook fan page -- >> we'd love to hear what you think. we'll have the answer an hour from now. we will be right back.

good morning and thank you for watching 9news now at 6:00 a.m. i'm andrea roane. >> thursday is here, we're glad you're with us, i'm mike hydeck. good morning monika samtani. >> good morning mike. >> traffic momentarily. mr. bernstein, nor'easter missed us for the most part. >> yeah it did. freehold, new jersey, 13 inches of snow. that's one of the extreme ones there but that's -- that's a heck of a snowstorm. >> heck yeah. yep. >> a heavy wet snow at that. just kind of you know break your back shoveling on that one. so yeah, we got lucky and our luck is going to get better in the weekend as warmer air heads our way. and going to be delightful kind of a neat sky there looking to the east out of tysons corner there morning on our michael & son weather camera. we've got some breaks in the clouds and